Dow Chemical Co. (DOW), the largest U.S. chemical maker by sales, applied for a federal permit to build the company’s biggest ethylene plant to benefit from the cost advantage of cheap natural gas, as per Bloomberg. The plant in Freeport, Texas, would have capacity to make 1.5 mln tpa of ethylene, the same size as Texas ethylene plants proposed by Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp. It will be Dow’s largest in the world. Construction of the $1.7 billion plant would begin in January 2014 with operations to begin in January 2017.
Dow is investing a total of US$4 bln in Texas and Louisiana through 2017 to increase output of ethylene and propylene. The Gulf Coast investments will boost earnings by at least US$2 bln pa after the new cracker starts.
11-Dec-12 
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